1 Corinthians 15:38

But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body.

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Word by word — the Greek

Word	Greek	Strong’s	Meaning
But	δὲ de	G1161	but · conjunction
God	θεὸς theos	G2316	figuratively · noun — nominative singular masculine, a title
giveth	δίδωσιν didōsin	G1325	to give (used in a very wide application · verb — present active indicative, 3rd person singular
it	αὐτῷ autō	G846	the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — dative singular masculine
body	σῶμα sōma	G4983	the body (as a sound whole) · noun — accusative singular neuter
as	καθὼς kathōs	G2531	just (or inasmuch) as · conjunction
him	ἠθέλησεν ēthelēsen	G2309	to determine (as an active option from subjective impul… · verb — aorist active indicative, 3rd person singular
and	καὶ kai	G2532	and · conjunction
every	ἑκάστῳ hekastō	G1538	each or every · adjective — dative singular masculine
seed	σπερμάτων spermatōn	G4690	something sown · noun — genitive plural neuter
own	ἴδιον idion	G2398	pertaining to self · adjective — accusative singular neuter
body	σῶμα.¶ sōma	G4983	the body (as a sound whole) · noun — accusative singular neuter

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

1 Corinthians 3:7 So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.
Isaiah 61:11 For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord GOD will caus…
Genesis 1:11-12 And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in it…
Psalms 104:14 He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man: that he may bring forth food out of the earth;
Mark 4:26-29 And he said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground;

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 1 Corinthians 15:35-50

The apostle comes now to answer a plausible and principal objection against the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead, concerning which observe the proposal of the objection: Some man will say, How are the dead raised up? And with what body do they come? Co1 15:35. The objection is plainly two-fold. How are they raised up? that is, "By what means? How can they be raised? What power is equal to this effect?" It was an opinion that prevailed much among the heathens, and the Sadducees seem to have been in the same sentiment, that it was not within the compass of divine power, mortales aeternitate donare, aut revocare defunctos - to make mortal men immortal, or revive and restore the dead. Su…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 1 Corinthians 15:38

as it hath pleased him--at creation, when He gave to each of the (kinds of) seeds (so the Greek is for "to every seed") a body of its own (Gen 1:11, "after its kind," suited to its species). So God can and will give to the blessed at the resurrection their own appropriate body, such as it pleases Him, and such as is suitable to their glorified state: a body peculiar to the individual, substantially the same as the body sown.

Adam Clarke on 1 Corinthians 15:38

But God giveth it a body - And is there any other way of accounting for it but by the miraculous working of God's power? For out of that one bare grain is produced a system of roots, a tall and vigorous stalk, with all its appendages of leaves, etc., besides the full corn in the ear; the whole making several hundred times the quantum of what was originally deposited. There are no proofs that what some call nature can effect this: it will ever be a philosophical as well as a Scriptural truth, that God giveth it a body as it pleaseth him; and so doth he manage the whole of the work, that every seed shall have its own body: that the wheat germ shall never produce barley; nor the rye, oats. See…

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John Gill

The Church Fathers

And to every seed God has assigned its own body -not, indeed, its own in the sense of its primitive body-in order that what it acquires from God extrinsically may also at last be accounted its own.
— Tertullian, On the Resurrection of the Flesh

He did not say God "gave" or "ordered" but God "gives," that you may know how the Creator applies the effective power of his wisdom to the creation of things which come into existence daily at their appointed times.
— Augustine of Hippo, LETTER 205

Indeed, since he proposes as his examples "wheat grain, or some other grain, to which God giveth a body, such as it hath pleased Him; " since also he says, that "to every seed is its own body; " that, consequently, "there is one kind of flesh of men, whilst there is another of beasts, and (another) of birds; that there are also celestial bodies and bodies terrestrial; and that there is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars" -does he not therefore intimate that there is to be a resurrection of the flesh or body, which he illustrates by fleshly and corporeal samples? Does he not also guarantee that the resurrection shall be accomplished by that God from whom proceed all the (creatures which have served him for) examples? "So also," says he, "is the resurrection of the dead.
— Tertullian, Against Marcion Book V

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Adam — Red, a Babylonian word, the generic name for man, having the same meaning in the Hebrew and the Assyrian languages. It was the name given to the first man, whose creation, fall, and subsequent…
Immortality — Perpetuity of existence. The doctrine of immortality is taught in the Old Testament. It is plainly implied in the writings of Moses (Gen. 5:22, 24; 25:8; 37:35; 47:9; 49:29, comp. Heb. 11:13-16; Ex.…
Sin — Is “any want of conformity unto or transgression of the law of God” (1 John 3:4; Rom. 4:15), in the inward state and habit of the soul, as well as in the outward conduct of the life, whether by…
Body · Resurrection of — Resurrection of
Botany · Laws of nature in the vegetable kingdom uniform in action — Laws of nature in the vegetable kingdom uniform in action
Immortality · 2:11; — 2:11;
Resurrection · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Resurrection, The · Is not contrary to reason — Is not contrary to reason
Seed · Each kind has its own body — Each kind has its own body

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

1 Corinthians 15:38

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 1 Corinthians 15:35-50

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 1 Corinthians 15:38

Adam Clarke on 1 Corinthians 15:38

John Gill

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

1 Corinthians 15:38

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 1 Corinthians 15:35-50

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 1 Corinthians 15:38

Adam Clarke on 1 Corinthians 15:38

John Gill

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on 1 Corinthians 15:35-50

Tyndale Open Study Notes on 1 Corinthians 15:37-39